Fishing mags

[Shorelunch]

I was curious on what your opinions are regarding the fishing magazines out there?

In-Fish?

Esox?

MN Sportsman?

Others?

Do you have any thoughts on these or do you read any others? Do you subscribe to any or pick them up at a newsstand?

[Muskycrazy]

I used to subscribe to a few but found out that most of the articles are recycled info . New stuff is really few and far between and mostly I'll pick up one now at the news stand to see if anything is new . Usually not . I got kind of tired of the " use the best fishing tactics at high activity times to maximize your fishing success " kind of generic goobblygook . I still pick one up from time to time but the only subscription I have now is one that came with a net I bought .

[c&amagn]

I get the following:

Outdoor News--Great for MN info, law changes, fishing and hunting.

In-Fisherman- got free with a net I bought too, mainly just tons of advertising in it.

Walleye-Insider--Same as In-Fisherman but some decent walleye tips and articles

MN-Sportsman--Some good articles and price is right for what's in it.

Just my .02

[SWMuskeye]

I love in-fish and NAF is good too. For MN publications, I like outdoor news the best.

MN Sportsman is the worst!!! Tim Lesmeister is a joke with all of his articles-here's a few that you shouldn't be surprised to hear about.

-10 down-south overlooked white bass waters in July heat.

-Top 10 can't miss pound bluegill lakes that you can catch your limit at.

-Top 10 metro walleye lakes with GPS coordinates included

-Minnesota's overlooked trophy pike waters (all lakes less than 200 acres)

He gets too specific, and it gets me heated.

Sorry about the rant.

[Daze Off]

I get BassMasters mag and In-Fisherman and by far the better of the two is BassMasters. Might be because I-F has so many arwticles about other species though but even their articles on bass are not as good generally. They do tend to profile northern waters though which is good.

Daze Off

[snoozebutton]

I get In Fisherman and Walleye Insider and like them both. I also get Deer and Deerhunter but there aren't too many fishing articles in it.

[hanson]

In-Fisherman- I subscribe, I read, and I enjoy it. I really like the multi-species aspect of In-Fish, and not just Bass, Walleye, Muskie, Crappie, Bluegill, etc. They fish for "other" fish, and they do articles on these "other" fish (Cats, Stripers, White Bass, Sturgeon, Gar, etc.). I truly believe you need to be multi-species to be a good fisherman. There is a lot of overlap between the species with techniques, tactics, etc. that will make you better all around.

Walleye Insider- Really not a bad read for your specific walleye information

Esox Angler- I subscribed to Esox for quite awhile but let the subscription expire. I loved reading it even though I don't fish muskies. Remember... multi-species.

Outdoor News- I HAVE to read this weekly, even if I just skim through it. Its like reading the local town paper to me.

There's others too but those are my main reads.

[Farley]

I had a Walleye Insider subscription for 4 years. I liked it except for the fact that 1/4 of the magazine is covering Walleye trail\tourney stuff. Not my cup of tea.

just picked up a copy of EXOX angler and I think I'll be making the switch to that soon.

[TMF89]

I highly reccomend MN Sportsman, and Outdoor News, as those two profile Minnesota only/mainly. In-Fisherman is good as well, and Bassmaster is obviously the best for bass. I highly reccomend NOT getting North American Fishing Club though, as all it's caused me is grief. I get a magazine from them every couple of months, and the information is very poor.

[LMITOUT]

I occasionally will pick up a copy of the FLW Walleye magazine if it has some good articles. There is a lot of fluff and advertising, but what magazines don't have that anymore. The articles are pretty good at times though.

Years ago I used to subscribe to Walleye Insider when they used to be 12 magazines/yr, but after they started getting more condensed and combining multiple months into one magazine I stopped. Even after combining months into one magazine, they got a lot thinner too.

[TycoCowboy]

I read them all, Min Sportsman, Fishing Facts, In-Fisherman,IF-Walleyes, Midwest Outdoors, Esox Angler, Bassin, Musky Hunter, and a few more I can't think of. The best tho is North American Fishing Clubs magazine and even better are their books. Expensive, but excellent material in them. Check one out if you get a chance, like I say pricy, about $26.00 bucks, but very good!

[89Bronco]

Maybe not exclusively a fishing mag, but one of the best overall outdoor magazines IMO is FUR, FISH & GAME.

[Metzie]

My favorite is Midwest Outdoors.

[papabear]

I get Outdoor news, NAFC, MN Sportsman. Outdoor News is such a great publication. It has a good editorial and columnists that give info that you rarely find in any other mag. And the NAFC does a good job of introducing ideas from across the country even if you may never use them they are interesting. And the Club has stopped sending me stuff that I do not want.

[shivermeister]

Wow- No mention of field and stream or outdoor life. Both great mags.

[MinnesotaMongo]

Infish has really changed over the years. I have back issues from the 70's - 90's and some of them are just terrific - breakthrough stuff. My 13 year old son is devouring them now and learning a ton, just like I did.

I still love Doug Stange's approach to the sport, but the mag is just a shadow of what it was when it changed publishers...

Well, in my opinion, that is...

[pfluemis]

I pick up "Fishing the midwest", and "Outdoor news". More "local" than anything else I care to read.

In-fish's 'eye insider is ok, but I don't care to sift through all the advertisments.

I got one "advanced fishing strategies" mag, and it will most likely be the last one.

I do like "bassin'" mag, but alas, is more of a southern mag.

I also like "CRAPPIE world", but again, it seems more like a southern mag.

I think the one that is most entertaining to read is "Fishing facts".

Not being any type of "expert" at fishing, I usually can find something in most any mag to learn atleast a little something from. I find the last 2 to be less intrusive with phrases like take "X" brand rod with "Y" brand reel and "A" brand line and a Brand "B" blah, blah, lure and fish the location. That is the biggest turn off, for me, when standing at the newsstand, trying to decide if I should take a magazine home. I find all the junk mail that comes with subscriptions just isn't worth the little bit of savings.

[cold one sd]

I had back issues of In Fisherman for most of the 70s until my wife decided to do some cleaning in my part of the basement and decided that I wouldn't ever read those "old magazines" again.

[MinnesotaMongo]

Quote:

---

I had back issues of In Fisherman for most of the 70s until my wife decided to do some cleaning in my part of the basement and decided that I wouldn't ever read those "old magazines" again.

---

Now that's just NOT right.

If she REALLY loved you - she might allow you to buy a new boat to make up for her error in judgement...

Hey, it's worth a shot...

[cold one sd]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I had back issues of In Fisherman for most of the 70s until my wife decided to do some cleaning in my part of the basement and decided that I wouldn't ever read those "old magazines" again.

---

Now that's just NOT right.

If she REALLY loved you - she might allow you to buy a new boat to make up for her error in judgement...

Hey, it's worth a shot...

---

You have it all figured out. That's pretty good. Maybe that's the reason she didn't say much last spring when I bought a new 1800 Fisherman, 150 Verado and 9.9 Pro Kicker. Not a bad trade off for some old fishing mags eh???

[ironman]

I agree...in-fish used to be the best by far, now just a shadow of what it once was...as well as the tv show. The Lindners had it down which is why I think that their new show angling edge is also better than in-fish tv.

Outdoor news is a must, the most current print sourch out there.

Minnesota sportsman is a joke if you ask me.

I'm finding I like Fur Fish and Game more and more

lately I've felt that field and stream and outdoor life have been getting better as well.

every year I do buy the infisherman ice fishing special...even though its more like a catalogue than a learning tool...but then I've gone through every page in my cabela's catalog about 800 times!

[Questor]

I pick up a freshwater fishing magazine occasionally just to see what the latest equipment trends and buzzwords are. I can't honestly think of any instance of having gotten an idea that has helped me fish better from any freshwater magazine. The good ideas tend to be elsewhere.

[lawman]

After reading In-Fish and Walleye Insider for four or five years I found I was reading the same stuff over and over again but re-packaged. That said, anyone new to fishing should read In-fish for a year to get educated.

[Coach Dog]

I've always liked In-Fisherman. MN Sportsman is the worst. A typical article is "5 MN Walleye Lakes You Need to Try." Lakes listed are Mille Lacs, LOTW, Winnie, Cass, and Leech. Duuhhh!!! Try lindy rigging the flats with a leech. Duuuhhh. It is recycled stuff.

[RK]

Hiya -

Kind of been an interesting thread for me to follow. When it comes fishing magazines, I sort of sit on all three sides of the desk (I guess it's a triangular desk in this case). I read several of them, write for some of them (In-Fisherman and MN Outdoor News), and edit one of them (The Next Bite - Esox Angler).

A lot of the time what you see in a magazine is a reflection of what the owners think their target readership is. If a magazine relies heavily on buyers off the newsstand, or if they're a general interest publication (a little of this, a little of that species or sport-wise), you see a lot more of the generic, basic articles and less of the hardcore stuff. A lot of the "top 5" or "top 10" kinds of pieces. There's a much broader readership there. The 'top walleye lakes' example is a good one actually. To us, living here, it's a 'duh' article. To someone from Nebraska grabbing a copy off the newsstand for something to read in the car or on the airplane, it's new info.

More targeted titles (like the ones I edit) have the opportunity to get a little more detailed because our readership is a little more focused on a small set of species (muskies, walleyes, and pike, in our case). I can devote 1200 words to a fairly specific technique or topic and still have room for general articles too because I don't have to cover everything from summer walleyes to what's new in shotgun scopes or what the tweety birds are doing this time of year. The same holds for geography. A pub like In-Fish has a lot of midwest stuff, but also has to cover things from coast to coast, which means everything from bass in California to salmon on the Great Lakes to catfish in Texas. In-Fish does do a pretty good job of making even regionally-focused articles relevant to someone from somewhere else, but it's not an easy task.

Another piece of the puzzle is the challenge of keeping content fresh. Several people have mentioned that 'it's all the same stuff.' To a point, I agree. When you strip it down to the essentials, it's all sausage. Think about what you've seen lately in terms of technique or tactics that's truly revolutionary. It's a pretty short list. Drop-shotting for bass, open water trolling for walleyes or muskies (that's going back a while already...). A lot of what you see written takes one of two forms: one angler's interpretation or application of a particular technique, whether it's a twist on the tried and true (using lead core to troll cranks for breakline walleyes comes to mind as an example) or nuts and bolts how-to that's news to some, and old news to others. Both have value, and I think magazines have to have both. For our magazine, even though we're a niche publication pretty focused on a core audience (pike, walleye, and muskie anglers), we have to at least try to balance the hardcore, enthusiast articles with information relevant and useful to someone who's just approaching the sport for the first time. We also have to make judgement calls on the relevance of new techniques - how likely is a reader to go make use of the information. There are some interesting walleye tactics used in the tournament world that most casual anglers won't ever try because it may take specialized equipment they're not likely to invest in for something they'll only do occasionally, or that is specific to certain bodies of water (mast and ski trolling rigs for the great lakes, as an example), or that take more equipment and more specialized skills than the average reader will have (wire line trolling for muskies or something like that). So do you commit the space to something that only 10% of your readers will find valuable? Sometimes, if there's other stuff there to balance it out...

All in all, fishing/outdoor magazines are an interesting business. A lot of conflicting imperatives to try to navigate through, and each publication has their own answer. Which is why some of us love magazines the other guys can't stand...

As to which ones I read:

In-Fisherman + guides (walleye, ice, and bass)

Walleye In-Sider

ODN

Gray's Sporting Journal

Inside Lines

plus I pick up all manner of stuff off the newsstand if something piques my interest... For some reason I get a kick out of reading saltwater articles. Same with fishing TV shows. I can't stand watching fishing shows unless it's about something I'll probably never do. I can't watch 5 minutes of most muskie fishing shows, but I can watch a saltwater fly fishing show for an hour...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Shorelunch]

Thanks for the scoop RK. It's got to be a tough duty "keep it fresh."

I'm suprised I haven't seen much of Midwest Outdoors listed - maybe this is a Outdoor News strong-hold?

[papabear]

Forgot about Fur-Fish-Game. I stopped reading it when I got out of trapping. They were more of a hunting trapping mag then. Loved the serial stories though. May have to pick up a copy.

[Quickstrike]

The 3 publications i read the most are the outdoor news, great lakes angler, and the drake, which is a blue colar fly fishing magazine that i would recommend to anyone who enjoys fly fishing and well written articles.

[Coach Dog]

You are right, I bet it is difficult to keep it fresh.

[Muddog]

In-Fisherman.

FlyRod&Reel.

Fly Fish America.

Well those 3 I like the most now. As for the ones that have hunting also, I have just one word, Montana. I saw around 1000 deer in the area I hunt. It's not that tough. Just learn to move your Index finger and nothing else.